Undone
by NaluWahine
Summary: The President and Commander Adama get entangled.
1. Default Chapter

Battlestar Galactica and its characters belong to Ron Moore and Glen Larson. I'm just toying with them.

Commander Adama's admin specialist spread an old-style two-dimensional galactic map on the desk in front of the President. She put on her glasses as the specialist used a cup and a pen holder to weight the edges.

"That's all, Specialist Rosario. You can get back to the SCIF."

"Yes, Sir."

President Roslin looked up. "Thank you, Specialist Rosario," she said with a pleasant smile. She thought it important to make sure every person she came in contact with felt noticed and important in the struggle to survive.

The young specialist straightened and fairly bowed to the President, barely able to contain a grin of pride that she used his name. He turned to leave and ran smack into the wall before navigating through the doorway.

Adama winced at how easily she disarmed his spacemen. At first, he took it as standard meaningless political stroking. After a while, however, he realized Laura Roslin actually cared that much about people. As a commander, he couldn't afford to be so compassionate.

"You've wounded another one of my men," he chided.

Laura smiled up at him as he leaned over the opposite side of her desk, with his fists spread menacingly wide on the map.

"I don't know what you mean. I haven't hurt anyone…yet," she replied to her esteemed adversary.

Adama was enjoying himself now, but he never betrayed himself with a smile. She walked right into his trap to embarrass her while they were alone. "I had two injuries on your account last week and one of them was a valuable pilot." Hook baited, he thought.

"During the deliveries from the merchant ships?" The President had real concern in her voice now and Adama felt a little guilty. Not guilty enough to stop toying with her, though.

"No. When you came over to the Galactica for the inventory briefing."

Laura thought back to the briefing visit but couldn't recall any incidents that would have led to an injury. What had she overlooked?

"When you were coming down the ladder," Adama looked down at the map because he was finding it hard not to grin, "do you remember what you were wearing?"

"Well, no. But I've only got three suits with me, so it must have been one of them."

"It was the black one…with the slit in the back." The Commander paused for effect but he did himself as much harm as he did to Laura. The pause gave him time to recall, in detail, the amount of leg revealed as she stepped down the ladder oblivious to the impact she had on most of the men gathered to greet her, including Adama himself. He was looking right into her eyes now and she seemed to read his thoughts as the awful realization hit her.

She took her glasses off and put her right hand over her eyes as she groaned, "Oh no. I didn't think of that."

"Billy should have told you," Adama offered in seriousness.

"He's too shy," she noted. "And he doesn't know a thing about women," she remarked with a bit of a laugh. "Did someone seriously get injured?" she queried in disbelief. She thought he might be pulling that same leg now.

"Yes. As I said, one of my pilots literally almost bit his tongue in half because he couldn't chew gum and ogle you at the same time."

The president giggled a little and the commander joined her with a rare smile.

"And what was the other injury?" she asked.

Adama hesitated a second. He hadn't foreseen her asking for specifics. Well, he started it. Too late to back out now. Sheepishly, he put his left hand up to his temple and pushed his hair aside where it was hiding a red lump. The President's eyes widened and her heart beat a little faster realizing she'd had some effect on him. "I neglected to see a display screen that was in between me and the view," he admitted.

Laura laughed at him, luxuriating in his admission of guilt and the fact that he found her, or at least her legs, attractive. He was also sharing a secret with her, something new and exciting. "Well, Commander, it seems I'm going to have to find a pair of trousers for whenever I need to board the Galactica."

"I'll work on that for you," but not too hard, he thought silently.

"Right. In the meantime, we need to decide which of these planets warrant probing." The President quickly scanned the map but failed to decipher the coding since it lacked a key. "Are the different colored circles indications of preliminary scans?"

Adama frowned. "Sorry, Madam President. The cartographers left the key off. I'll have them fix it. Yes, some are potential fuel sources, some are water sources, some are food sources, others look like they might have some other raw materials we could use." The commander rounded the desk and rested his hand on the back of her chair. He leaned over the map and pointed to the colored circles around various planets as he explained, "Red is fuel, blue is water, green is food and purple is other raw materials."

The President concluded that she was equally susceptible to sexual distraction. It was hard for her to concentrate on the work at hand when he had one arm around her and his face was so close to hers. She snapped out of it with some difficulty as Adama was pointing to the last planet which was right next to where her hand rested on the map. She noticed he was careful to maneuver around it without touching her hand.

When he finished and drew himself up, however, her jacket sleeve and arm went with him. His cufflink was caught on a loose loop of thread in her sleeve. They were both taken aback for a second, then she determined what was wrong.

"Oh, wait. Don't struggle against it. It'll tear and I'm worthless at sewing."

Adama was at a complete loss. He could wage a successful battle but had no idea how to untangle silk from metal. Laura sensed this and smiled a little. He was at her mercy.

"OK, put your hand back down on the map where it was."

He followed her direction, putting them back in a half embrace. She picked at the snag a bit with her fingernail but was unable to coax the cufflink free.

"Can you unhook the cufflink from the inside of your jacket sleeve?" she asked.

"No. It's sewn on," he replied. "I'll just tear off the cuff link and have someone sew it back on," he offered as he reached for it with his free hand.

"Wait a minute," she said as she put her hand over the wrist of his jacket where it was attached to hers. "Just slip out of your jacket and I'll be able to work it out that way. It'll take a few minutes but it'll save our clothes."

The commander sighed then started fumbling with his buttons with his free hand but he got nowhere. Laura saw the problem. "OK, plan B. Back up from the chair a little and I'll stand." He straightened and she stood up and moved to the side so the chair no longer separated them. She stepped back until they were in a standing spoon. With her right hand she tried to undo the two buttons on her coat so she could get it off. It was more difficult than she thought. Turning her head, she looked up to him. "A little help?" she asked softly, nearly brushing his cheek with her lips.

Adama concentrated on the task to keep his urge to pull her to him in check. He reached around her waist with his right hand, found the opening of her jacket and followed the line down to the bottom of it. By pulling it taught, he enabled her to push the buttons through their holes.

Once she was unfastened, she pulled the right side of the jacket away and he held the sleeve out so she could escape it. She slipped out of the other side leaving him holding the left wrist of her jacket. She draped her jacket over his left arm where it was still attached to his jacket.

The President turned in to him and said, "OK, now you." Both of them studiously avoided noticing their proximity and the absurdity of the situation. Almost imperceptibly, she hesitated before averting her eyes and undoing the first button of his coat at his waist. With her head bowed down to the task, the commander could stare at her unabashed. It would be hard to keep his rising interest in her undetected.

Though a bit more nervous than she would admit to herself, she dared to run her hand along the path from button to button as she undid them instead of hurrying through unfastening his coat. When she arrived at the final button on his collar, her chin was tilted up to him and she was dismayed to see not a single flicker of desire in his eyes. Psychologically, she recoiled from him and quickly pulled his jacket off to the left then walked around him, taking both jackets up in her arms. Purposely, she kept her back to him as she said, "I'll have Billy take care of this and get your coat back to you as soon as possible."

Adama could hear the blood thumping though his veins. He knew she was dismissing him silently but he was unwilling to leave. His mind raced but he couldn't form a plan to get back in her proximity. Logically, he knew she was the President and he couldn't have her. She was off limits to the chief of her military. For the moment, however, his humanity was trumping his sense of duty. He wanted her more than he could remember wanting anything or anyone. This was a part of himself he'd forgotten. In fact, he thought his passion was dead forever.

The President expected him to leave, or at least say something. When he did nothing, she called out to Billy as a means to break the awkward silence. Unusually impatient, she beckoned him again almost immediately.

Alarmed at her urgency, Billy sped up from his desk and barreled into her office. He stopped just inside the door, surprised at the odd site of Commander Adama in his undershirt and the President in a blouse instead of a jacket for an official meeting. Billy looked again at the commander who held his gaze while he stepped up to stand just an inch behind the President, almost possessively. Billy felt somewhat threatened by the commander and was not about to challenge his claim, imagined or real.

Billy changed his focus to the President who looked cross. That wasn't surprising at all. She and the commander rarely got along. "Yes, Madam President?"

She held the jackets out to him. "Please take these to Yara and see if she can separate them without tearing the material. His cufflink is hooked onto my left sleeve."

"Yes, Ma'am." Billy obediently took the jackets from her and scurried out of the room, glad to escape any crossfire.

Perturbed at Adama's lingering presence, Laura turned on her heel to tell him to leave and ran smack into him. He encircled her to keep her steady. She looked up at him, confused for a second, then pushed back from his chest to distance herself from the embarrassment. Looking away from him, she crossed behind her desk and repeated, "I'll get it back to you as soon as possible."

Satisfied with having held her briefly one more time, Adama gathered the strength to leave her. "I'm sorry, Madam President. I'll try to find a way to make it up to you."

Laura crossed her arms over her chest and looked him in the eye with defiance. She willed herself back to her ice princess persona. "Thank you, Commander. That will be all," she dismissed him coolly.

Yet, the commander remained rooted to the spot. Unwittingly, Laura transfixed him just as she was trying to rid herself of him. By crossing her arms under her breasts, she accentuated the bit of cleavage visible between the panels of her wrap blouse.

Before she could follow his eye line, Adama looked back up into her eyes and acknowledged, "Madam President." He turned and left her very confused and frustrated.


	2. UndoneChap2

Three days passed since the "jacket incident" as the President thought of it. She decided she was just ascribing feelings to the commander he didn't really have. Indeed, she didn't even know if he was capable of having them. He was maddeningly stoic. In any case, she concluded it was all in her head and nothing really happened except he accidentally caught his cufflink on her jacket sleeve. Maybe it was folly to ascribe any feelings to him at all.

For the last three days the commander tried unsuccessfully to purge the President from his thoughts. He wanted to hold her again so badly that he could almost feel her in his arms. Then he would mentally berate himself. He knew he would never get the opportunity again. It was a fluke. It was forbidden. She didn't even like him. Hell, she could barely stand him. He went back and forth between wishing it had never happened so he wouldn't know how enticing she smelled and how she fit perfectly in his arms and desperately trying to think of a way to hold her again.

To keep from revealing his desire, the commander sent a package to her via a petty officer instead of bringing it himself. Petty Officer Halanx had never seen the President up close before and she was excited. Billy ushered her into the President's office after an hour and a half cabinet meeting.

"Madam President, Petty Officer Halanx has a package from Commander Adama for you."

Sensing the younger woman's excitement, the President graciously smiled at her and said, "Thank you for bringing it over Petty Officer Halanx. I'm sorry if you had to wait but at least we didn't make you sit in on that long meeting."

The petty officer beamed at the President, the biggest celebrity among their community of 50,000. "I'm sure every one of your meetings is interesting, Madam President," she gushed as she proffered the package.

"Only to boring old politicians," the President joked. She had better sense than to open an unsolicited package in front of people, so she gently dismissed the young woman. "Thank you. I hope to see you again, maybe on Galactica," she said as she took the package.

"Yes, Ma'am," the petty officer replied, almost bowing before she turned to leave.

The President smiled at the young woman's enthusiasm before contemplating the mystery package. Probably more work or tough decisions to make, she thought glumly. Inside she found neither. It was a flight jacket. Of course, it wasn't new; nothing was out here except for the few new babies who had thankfully been born. There were no markings on the jacket as all the Velcro patches and rank were stripped off.

The note on top simply said, "I won this in a card game and thought you could use it until your jacket is repaired. It's not high fashion but it will keep you warm." Laura smiled despite herself. She wasn't much of a military buff but everybody thinks flight jackets are cool, even if they don't have any patches on them. She tried it on. It was too big but she still liked it. She had to roll the cuffs back so her hands could poke out but it was comfortable and made her feel more connected to the troops who were protecting her people.

Billy returned to collect her for a press conference. Though there were only 50,000 people to consume news and only about 40 reporters, it was important to keep every ship in the fleet informed and as many people as possible busy. She started to take the jacket off but Billy protested, "Madam President, the jacket really makes you look strong. I recommend you keep it on for the conference."

She shrugged. "OK. I guess it couldn't hurt. It's actually really comfortable. I just hope whoever lost this in the card game doesn't get upset when they see me wearing it. If he does, I hope he isn't armed!" she joked. As she pulled it tighter around her she felt something in the lining. She looked inside and found a pocket in the left breast lining. Laura reached in and pulled out a well-worn name patch. As she stepped out of her office she slapped it over the corresponding Velcro on the outside of the jacket, happy to look more official even if she had no idea who that person actually was.

Press conferences normally drained her but this one was almost fun. Everyone seemed unusually excited and they particularly liked the jacket. She didn't think she'd ever been photographed so much in her life. Maybe she was getting the hang of this politics thing.

She went to bed that night feeling more hopeful than she had since the attack.

The next morning, her paper was not on her desk with her coffee as usual. "Billy?" she called out. He appeared in seconds. "Is there something wrong with the paper?"

"Um. I wanted to talk to you about it before you saw it, Ma'am," he answered sheepishly.

Just then, Commander Adama appeared in the doorway. "Madam President, may I come in?" he asked but didn't wait for a reply as he pushed past Billy toward her desk.

"What is it, Commander?" she asked alarmed. He was reluctant to come to scheduled meetings with her. If he came of his own accord, it must be something important.

"Have you seen the paper?"

"As a matter of fact, I haven't. Billy was just going to tell me what the problem is."

Adama glowered at Billy a moment then returned his angry but controlled gaze to her. He took the paper from under his arm, unfurled it and laid it in front of her. "This is the problem. They think we're going steady!" he said with disdain.

The President looked at the huge picture of herself on the front page under the headline, "Are They or Aren't They?" Underneath the photo it said, "President Roslin sporting Commander "Husher" Adama's flight jacket."

She raised her eyes to him. "You're Husher? I thought you won the jacket."

"I did." He rose up and settled down a bit realizing part of this was his fault for being deceptive. "27 years ago." He hadn't wanted her to know it was his jacket because it would seem like too much sacrifice on his part. He also didn't think she would wear it if she knew it was his. He definitely didn't want anyone else to know he gave her his flight jacket. Now everyone knew.

"Well, why did you leave the name patch in there?"

"I didn't know it was there. It's been years since I wore it." They both fell silent trying to think of what to do.

Adama turned to Billy. "How soon can we hold another press conference to just say that it was a mistake?"

"It takes about a days notice if you want pictures because we have to get all the photographers together on one ship but we could do a news release without pictures right away."

"Madam President, can we go with a release?" Adama asked.

She was reading the rest of the article. "Billy, since when did they start calling me the 'Enchanting President Roslin' and referring to Commander Adama as 'ruggedly handsome'?"

"I've been on the phone with most of the press corps this morning, Ma'am."

"You called them without asking me?"

"No, Ma'am. They were calling me. Most of them want to write follow up stories dealing exclusively with your relationship with Commander Adama."

"There is no relationship!" Adama snapped, indignant at the accusation of impropriety.

"You'd better sit down, Commander," the President instructed. He chose a chair across from her and let out a sigh as he seated himself. She knew she had the upper hand here because it didn't really bother her that much. Actually, she thought it was kind of funny.

"Billy, why do they care?"

"Well, what I'm hearing is people are tired of Cylons and shortages and battles. Frankly, Ma'am, they're hungry for hope, romance and passion. Since you and the Commander are the most famous people in the fleet, a romance between you, especially since it's against all odds given you're public rancor and the dire circumstances, seems like a fairy tale. The whole thing sends the message that love conquers all…even the Cylons can't bring it down. It also doesn't hurt that you're powerful and beautiful, Ma'am."

"It doesn't matter what they want. We can't tell them their president and their military commander are involved, especially since it's not true," Commander Adama pointed out.

"Sir, we don't have to tell them that. In fact, the more you deny it, the more they will think it's happening. All you have to do is tell the truth or better yet, be evasive," offered Billy.

There was a long pause as they all considered the bizarre situation and its implications.

President Roslin leaned back in her chair. After a contemplative moment she said in her most rational tone, "I think the best thing to do is just ignore it. After a few days, everyone will forget about it. We certainly have more important things to worry about."

Adama rubbed his temple and avoided eye contact with her lest he give his angst away. "Yes, Ma'am," was all he said. He really didn't want to talk about it to the press so this was the easy way out. She was probably right. After a few days, people would find other things to talk about.

Billy nodded. He was anxious to get out of this highly charged room. Besides, if the President decided to tell the commander that he was the one who recommended she wear the jacket to a press conference, Billy definitely didn't want to be within beating distance.

"Thank you, Billy" she said to set him free. He gratefully took his queue and hurried out the door.

Commander Adama stood at the same time to make his exit.

"Commander," Laura said as she rose to talk to him, "I'm sorry I embarrassed you." She crossed the room to face him.

A bit abashed, Adama finally met her gaze with his own. "You didn't embarrass me, Ma'am. It's just hard to maintain good order and discipline when everyone wonders what I had to do to get you to wear my jacket. There's a war on and I'm supposed to be running our end of it, not romancing women, especially the woman who is the Commander In Chief."

Laura nodded her understanding. "Well, at least we boosted morale a bit, however inadvertently. Maybe we even inspired some mischievousness that will result in a few more babies," she joked. "I'd really like to know, though, why 'Husher'?"

Commander Adama was looking at her lips as he recalled how he got the name. "I'll tell you sometime, Madam President." He tipped his head to her and left her looking after him, wondering.


	3. UndoneChap3

The President was right. After a few days the whispering and speculation about her and the commander subsided. She was careful not to wear his jacket in public but she wore it frequently in private.

Billy came in to let her know it was time to leave for the conference on monetary regulation. A standard had to be set for things which couldn't be bartered. It was a monumental task with no easy answers. She took off "Husher's" jacket and draped it over the back of her chair. She had not removed the name patch, frequently running her fingers over the embroidery wondering about the genesis of the call sign. Frustrated at his coolness, she decided "Enigma" would have been more fitting.

The conference was on Galactica in the Commander's briefing room to allow for maximum participation. As she came down the ladder she remembered Adama's warning about distracting his men with her legs. She didn't really care about his men but she stopped for a second mid-ladder to look over her shoulder to see if the Commander was watching her.

He was just a few steps from the ladder, waiting for her on deck. He stood at attention except that his eyes were definitely trained on her bare legs. When she stopped moving his eyes rose to meet hers and she grinned. She took immense pleasure in catching him red handed.

Adama was mortified but when she beamed at him like that, exclusively for him, he could not help slyly smiling back.

Only one photographer was perfectly positioned to get the shot-her beaming over her shoulder at him as she came down the ladder and him smiling back-but it got wide distribution. Both of them were in the frame and the connection between them was unmistakable.

The conference was long. Adama was glad his only part was as host and he didn't have to attend this political and legislative business. As it wound down, Billy left to find the commander on the bridge. Commander Adama was to come back to the conference room to escort the President off of Galactica.

He entered the room from the back door and stood behind the President's chair as she gave her closing remarks. She stood and everyone followed suit. She hadn't realized how close the commander was to her and bumped into him when she stepped back from her chair. She turned and rested her hand on his upper arm to steady herself. He took her arm under her elbow to assist her. "Sorry," was all she said before moving through the open back door. Adama followed her on her left.

This time, when she made her way up the ladder he made a concerted effort to keep his eyes fixed at attention. After she left, he was relieved that there were no major incidents during her visit. Neither of them was aware of the photos that would surface in the morning.

Once again, Adama was at her door first thing. Billy, who should have been ushering him in, was scurrying in behind him. "Can you believe this?" the commander spat in disgust as he slapped the paper down in front of her on her desk.

While the story loosely covered the prior day's meeting, the looming front page shots were of her and Adama, who hadn't even attended. The first shot was of her coyly smiling over her shoulder at him and him smiling back. Now that she saw a photo of herself coming down the ladder, she realized she did need to get a pair of trousers sooner rather than later.

She picked up the paper as she rose from her chair and walked over to her viewing window. Her back was to the two men as she studied the second photo. It showed her grasping the commander's arm as he steadied her when she bumped into him. Without an explanation, it implied they were about to embrace. The caption used a bad double entendre, "Commander Adama takes care of his President".

Billy became increasingly uncomfortable as he felt certain he would somehow take the blame for this…probably in the form of something unpleasant from the commander. Mercifully, a phone rang in the ante-chamber. "Excuse me, Ma'am," he blurted as he bolted out the door.

With her back still to the commander, she mused, "Well, I guess it's clear. No matter how innocent, you and I can never touch each other."

Adama was silent behind her then intoned, "In public."

The temperature in the room seemed to rise twenty degrees. How could such a cold man make things so hot? After a second to recover, she slowly turned to face him.

Unfortunately, sometime while her back was turned he had risen and crossed close to her. He just stood there, gazing into her eyes. She knew the blush in her cheeks betrayed her desire for him but she steeled herself so that her words would recoup her dignity. If she gave in to her desire, rushed at him and brought him down to the desk with a ferocious kiss, she feared he would not only reject her but think her insane as well. They were sparring leaders, not lovers.

"Right. When we're behind closed doors I'll feel free to trip over you on a regular basis," she joked.

Adama smiled slightly which made her relax. She felt she'd won that round against this exasperating man.

"I look forward to it, Madam President," he retorted. Laura returned his smile and everything seemed good.

"OK. Let's get on with the morning's business shall we?" she said as she gestured over to the couch.

They went over the issues of stores and births and deaths and distribution and upcoming ceremonies and meetings. A comfort set in between them, even when they disagreed on actions to take.

So it went for several weeks. Eventually, when it was necessary to bring other leaders and experts into the morning meetings, they felt like distinct outsiders as the President and the commander were able to communicate with each other in a sort of short hand. Frequently one knew what the other would say before it was spoken.

Some newcomers were also dismayed to find the philosophical differences for which the pair was renowned weren't as pronounced as they were originally. Sometimes a representative would expect one of them to champion his or her cause against the other Titan, only to find one would see the other's side of things and they would team up to overrule the petitioner.

He would never be a bleeding heart liberal and she would never be a hardened warrior, but they were able to see each other's point of view more and more frequently. They also increasingly enjoyed each other's company. Sometimes their post-meeting private discussions lasted longer than the meetings themselves. Frequently that was because it devolved into discussion about a book or speculation, gossip really, about who might be pregnant or dating or getting engaged. Neither of them had other peers. They could only relax with each other.

Both of them regarded their time together as the highlight of their days. These private discussions also allowed them to touch each other without fear of making the front page. There was nothing inappropriate. At times he would lean over her as they reviewed a document and let his hand rest on her back. If they were discussing something and she wanted his attention, she would rest her hand on his forearm. He always put a hand out to help her up from the couch. Though she thought it somewhat anachronistic, she always took his hand and thanked him.

Billy learned never to interrupt them when they were alone unless it was a dire emergency. He became quite the gatekeeper. Along with everyone else, he hoped there was something more than paperwork going on in the inner chamber.

One morning, while going over the plan for an expanded medical bay, Laura dropped her pen to the floor. She leaned over to get it, unwittingly flashing quite a bit of cleavage. Adama, sitting right next to her on the couch, clenched his coffee cup a little too tightly as a result. The cup pushed up in his hand and coffee flowed down the front of his uniform jacket. "Damn it!" he exclaimed.

Still bent at the waist, Laura turned her head to see what he'd done. She sat back up in alarm. "Are you OK?" She grabbed a linen napkin from the side table and dunked it in her water then started blotting his jacket.

Embarrassed for leering and for being clumsy as a result, Adama put the cup down and grabbed her hand on his chest. She stopped rubbing and looked up into his eyes. "I'm sorry. You distracted me again. You're hazardous to my health," he joked to cover up his loss of cool.

Only then did she realize what caused him to spill his coffee. She smiled a little and quipped, "I'll take that as a complement, especially at my age."

"Don't kid yourself, Madam President. You are breathtakingly beautiful."

Laura was speechless. She was never prepared for him to say these stunningly tender, sexy things. What was even more disarming was how cool he was when he said them.

Suspecting from her silence that he may have gone too far, he released her hand and excused himself to the bathroom to clean himself up. That's when he saw the drugs. There was a case of them on a rolling cart near the sink. He didn't know what they were for but he knew they weren't all for the allergies she claimed to have. Now that he thought about it, he'd never seen her so much as sneeze or have red eyes.

When he emerged, she waited to see if he'd turned back into Cold Adama from Hot Husher.

"If there's nothing else, I'd better be going, Ma'am," he said as he strode toward the door.

Yup. Cold Adama. "I'll see you tomorrow, Commander," she said in quiet frustration as she watched him go.

Back on Galactica, the commander summoned the doctor to his quarters immediately. He was putting on a fresh jacket when the older man arrived.

"Getting a late start today, Commander?" he jibed. His age and position allowed him to get away with a little more than most on Galactica.

"No. I was with the President."

"Really!" the doctor said with some delight. "I'd heard you two were sleeping together but I didn't know if it was true."

"We aren't. Not that it's any of your business. We were just having a meeting and I spilled coffee on myself." Adama kept the details of what caused him to lose the grip on his coffee to himself.

"Oh," the doctor said in a disappointed tone. "So you burned yourself? Let's take a look."

"I'm fine. I want to know what's wrong with the President."

"You know I can't tell you that, Commander."

"This overrides doctor-patient confidentiality. It's a matter of security. If she's…dying, I'm looking at having to restore order from chaos in this fleet."

By the way Adama choked when he mentioned her death, the doctor knew security was really a secondary concern. Adama made his case without realizing it. The doctor considered love the only good reason to break confidentiality.

"She has cancer," the doctor revealed.

The Commander pressed his lips together and studied the ground. He had to sit down before asking the next question. "How bad is it?"

"It's actually not as bad as it was when she was first diagnosed, the day the war started. Judging from what her previous doctor told her, something slowed its progress before she even came to see me. Still, it's pretty advanced." The doctor paused before delivering the blow. "I can't say for sure, Commander, but I'd be surprised if she lives through her term."

"There must be something we can do." This was the first time the doctor had ever heard Adama sound desperate. He put his head in his hands and the doctor sat and waited for him to recover from the shock.

"You said something slowed the growth but it wasn't drugs. What could it have been? Microgravity? Some type of food or herb? Solar radiation?" questioned the Commander.

"I really don't know, Commander. Whatever it was, it happened sometime between the attacks and when we regrouped after getting the arms from the armory."

Adama brainstormed for a minute. "Could it have been the EM cloud mixed with the radiation around the armory?" he pleaded.

"Maybe, but maybe not. That combination has never been tested as a therapy. It's only been hypothesized as a treatment."

"If that was what slowed it down, could it conceivably destroy it?"

"Conceivably, but that's an incredibly long, long shot. I wouldn't pin any hope on it."

"How long would it take if it worked?"

"Well, extrapolating from her first diagnoses and her second, I'd say she'd have to be there for at least eight days."

Adama nodded.

"Look, Commander, even if we knew for sure it would work, which we don't, you'll never get her to go. I've seen her type before. Too busy taking care of other people to care for themselves. Besides that, whoever you would have take her out there might get radiation sickness, even with a suit. That's if the Cylons didn't get them first."

The Commander stood. "You're right, Doc. Thanks. Keep working on it," he said as he practically pushed the doctor through the door.

As soon as he got rid of the doctor, the commander sat down and began to plan.


	4. UndoneChap4

Galactica's chief engineer wondered what the old man was planning on doing with the cargo runner. Commander Adama had been in the cargo hanger several times over the last two days checking up on the engineer's progress with the small ship. The commander ordered it stocked and fueled for tested for a mission. That wasn't unusual but what cargo was so precious that the old man himself would sweat the details so much? He never checked his son's viper before he flew. What could be more important than his own son?

The engineer would also like to know why they were arming the ship this time. It had always had hard points to carry weapons but they were rarely loaded. Mostly, the ship was just used to run things among ships of the fleet, like a cargo shuttle. No matter how curious he was, he knew he couldn't ask the commander about the mission. If the commander would tell him, he would have already done it.

As the commander approached, the engineer snapped to attention, "She's mission ready, Sir."

Adama returned the salute. "Good. Stow this in aft of the crew compartment," he directed as he handed a heavy case to the engineer.

"Aye, Sir. How should I list this in the equipment?"

"Clothing."

Now the engineer was really curious. Either this was wardrobe for a whole lot of people for a long time or there was something other than clothes in this case. It was very heavy.

"Aye, Sir." He asked the next question with some trepidation but he had to know since it was scheduled to depart tomorrow. "And whom should I list on the manifest, Sir?"

"I'll get that to you first thing tomorrow. It won't take off until 1400, so you'll have plenty of time to square away the paper work." Adama called this last bit over his shoulder as he was already exiting the hanger.

Back in his quarters, the commander initiated the second part of his plan. He picked up his old-fashioned phone and punched the direct line to the President. "Madam President, I'm sorry to bother you."

"What is it, Commander?"

"Ma'am, can I go secure?"

"Yes, go ahead."

Adama punched the encryption button and continued when the light flashed "SECRET". "I've got some intelligence that you are in danger. I need to covertly get you off your ship and replace you with a decoy, just for tonight."

The President hadn't given much thought to assassination attempts. Since she knew her days were numbered, it didn't seem worth the worry. "Cylon or human?" she asked.

"Human," he responded in a half truth. He hated lying, especially to her. "Ma'am, we need to roll to set up a trap. I'd like to send Petty Officer Velez over under the cover of fixing your lighting. She's about your size and height and has your color hair. She'll switch clothes with you. When you come over to the Galactica, I'll hide you. I can't afford to let any of the crew know you're here or it might leak. Once you're here, I'll send a detail over supposedly to help Velez with the lighting. They'll watch Velez's back while she plays you."

The President didn't like the idea of someone being a decoy for her but she didn't have a better idea right now. "Alright, Commander. But if we don't catch the assassin tonight, let's come up with another plan tomorrow. I don't like putting someone else in danger if we don't have to."

"Yes, Ma'am. She'll be over as soon as we dock."

Petty Officer Velez was in the President's room taking off her clothes a half hour later. Once the President saw that the petty officer had her hair pinned up in a bun, she went into her bathroom to do the same. She came out with a nightgown and robe for Velez and took the uniform Velez left on the couch for her. There was a hat which partially covered her eyes and helped make her less recognizable.

Adama was hovering around the ladder. When the President came down it he looked her in the eye for a brief second to let her know to follow him. He turned and walked out of the room while saying loudly, "Colonel, you have the conn."

As the night shift took their changeover briefs from their counterparts at the various stations, no one noticed "Petty Officer Velez" following Commander Adama at ten paces as he made his way toward his quarters. Once inside, he turned to look at her. A small smile played on his features. The uniform she was wearing was more form fitting than her business suits and the hat made her look young and eager.

"What?" she asked, smiling back at him.

"You would have made a fine officer," he teased in a low tone. The fact that she was wearing an enlisted rank made him want to abuse his privileges. He meant 'fine' in both senses of the word.

She laughed. "Don't get your hopes up. I don't see myself signing up anytime soon." She took the hat off and set it on the table. "Are we going to get updates from the security crew?"

"No. We'll have to wait until something happens or until morning. We didn't want to risk tipping them off."

"Who are they, Commander?"

"I don't know, Madam President. Hopefully we'll get an answer by tomorrow."

Laura nodded recognition but she was still unhappy about putting Velez in danger. She was already working on an alternate plan for tomorrow if this trap didn't work tonight. Uncomfortable in the uniform, she wanted to get to bed to think about it. "Where is Velez's bunk?" she asked.

"Madam President, you can't sleep there. It's six to a room. The others would know you're not her. Right now they probably think she's sleeping with her boyfriend."

"Well, where am I sleeping tonight? I do sleep, you know." Laura was pulling the pins out of her hair as she said this. They were pinching her scalp. Adama was transfixed, watching as her locks tumbled down around her shoulders. She put her hands in her hair to massage where the offending pins had been. Closing her eyes, she rubbed away until she noticed he hadn't answered her. When she opened her eyes he quickly looked down. She'd caught him staring at her and they were both a little embarrassed.

He cleared his throat. Without looking at her he gestured to his bed in the alcove behind her, "You'll have to sleep in my bed tonight, Madam President." He knew how that sounded so he quickly added, "I'll sleep on the couch in my office. I'll be close enough to keep an eye on you…so to speak…in case they've figured out you're here."

"Wouldn't the press love to hear about this arrangement," she sighed.

"Madam President, have you eaten?" he asked, to change the subject.

"Yes, thank you."

"Would you like something to drink?"

"That would be great, thanks."

Adama entered his adjoining office and she followed him. She sat down on the couch as he poured something into crystal glasses. "I don't usually have the President as a guest, so I'm breaking out the good stuff," he mused.

"What's the good stuff?"

"Passion fruit juice. I love the stuff and picked it up on our last run as we were heading home for decommissioning. Normally, I'd serve it with rum, but I'm out of that right now. I hope you don't mind it neat."

She gladly accepted the glass he poured for her. Since the attack she'd had nothing but water and coffee and little of those. "You're not giving me this because you think the assassin might get me, are you? Sort of a last drink?" she asked to make light of the situation.

Adama sat down in the chair next to the couch with his own glass. "No, Ma'am. I assure you, I'm going to do everything I can to keep you alive." He put the juice to his lips and she followed suit.

"I know you will, Commander. I appreciate your efforts, even giving up your bed for this operation. It's all still a little new to me. I joke about it to deal with it. I'm sorry if I insinuated that I had anything but the utmost trust in you." She took another sip of juice. "This really is good. I've never had it before."

"Yes, it's hard to resist," he agreed as he watched her for signs of sleepiness.

After steadily sipping it, she tucked her feet up under herself and rested her head against the back of the couch. She held the cool half-empty glass to her neck and closed her eyes.

"Madam President…are you OK?"

"Mmm?" She slowly opened her eyes, closed them again, and said, "Suddenly, I'm exhausted. I better clear our of your temporary bed and get into your real bed while I still can." She set her empty glass down on the table and stood up with some difficulty. Blood drained to her extremities, leaving her head in a fog. "Are you sure there was no rum in that?" she questioned as she began to collapse.

Commander Adama had set his glass down in anticipation and scooped her up before she hit the floor. She was completely limp so he knew she was out cold. He carried her over to his bed and laid her down. He was thankful she didn't try to change before the drink. It would be a lot easier to move her undetected in that uniform.

Moving quickly, he retrieved the folding crash cart from under his bed and set it up. He loaded the bottom with some gear. Then he lifted her from his bed and placed her on top. He covered her up to her neck with a sheet, tucked her hair under her head and placed the hat on her head until it covered her eyes.

He only had one offer of help on his way to the cargo bay from a well meaning ensign. He turned it down, saying he wanted to personally make sure "this one" was OK. The bay was empty as he'd ordered it isolated in preparation for the secret mission that was to go off tomorrow in the ship he was about to use.

He lifted Laura up into a fireman's carry and brought her aboard. Gently, he laid her down on the crew bunk and strapped her down. He loaded the gear and sealed the hatch. Silently, he strapped himself in, looked over his shoulder at his "cargo", and took off.

The mission manager noted with alarm that the ship set for tomorrow's mission was taking off now without a flight plan. Just as he was about to call for a fighter scramble and security lock down, Commander Adama's voice came over the speaker.

"Mission Control, this is Commander Adama. I had to move tomorrow's mission up to tonight. For security reasons, I couldn't file a plan and I can only tell you I'll be gone for several days. The colonel is in command while I'm on this mission. And one more thing…the President is with me. It's part of the mission. Do not pursue. Everything is fine. If, however, we aren't back in nine days, carry on without us."

The colonel was standing over the mission controller's shoulder during the last three sentences. He'd never wanted a drink so bad in his life. He couldn't have one now. Now he was the Old Man. Mentally, he cursed Adama for doing this without telling him and leaving him in charge. One of the young pilots was supposed to take this mission and the President certainly wasn't part of the original plan. What the hell was he doing? Damn him!


	5. UndoneChap5

Laura awoke about nine hours later to the thrum of an air handler over her bed. Slowly, she became aware the bed was not her own. When she turned her head in the low light, she noted a star field outside a window and a panel of control buttons to the left of it.

When she tried to sit up she realized she was in restraints. Alarm set in. Thoughts of the assassin rushed to her head.

The commander came over to her from the pilot's seat when he heard her stir. When she recognized Adama leaning over her, she stopped struggling against the restraints.

As he unfastened the buckles he asked, "How's your head?"

Seething, she growled, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Commander?"

Adama found her ability to swear without actually cursing endearing. Very elegant. "I'm sorry for the restraints, Madam President," he explained as he began to unfasten her, "It was just for safety. We did a hyperspace jump while you were out and we're in hostile territory now."

"Did I pass out or was I knocked out?"

"You were knocked out."

"By the assassin?"

"No, Ma'am. By me," he admitted without even blinking. He was on one knee by her bedside. The cabin was dark except for control panels and red running lights. Still, they could see each other well enough for her glare to pierce him.

Once he freed her, she sat up, still indignant. She slapped him as hard as she could. He took it silently, pursed his lips, then looked back into her eyes.

Her eyes widened in fear. She kicked him square in the chest with her heel and he fell to the floor. "Cylon!" she hissed as she scrambled to her feet to get by him and find a weapon. Adama grabbed her leg from where he lay. "I'm not a Cylon," he rasped. It sounded as though she knocked the wind out of him. She kicked to get away but his grip was strong. He got her other leg and got back up to his knees. She was twisting and flailing him from above so he pulled her down onto him. They were in a heap on the deck but he quickly rolled on top of her, straddled her at the waist and pinned her arms to the deck above her head.

She stopped struggling since he overpowered her. Silently, she focused her strength to think of ways to kill him.

"Look," he said between heavy breaths, "I'm sorry I had to steal you away. I knew you wouldn't agree to come otherwise."

"Stealing away is for brides, Commander. This is an abduction. Am I a hostage?"

"No," he said as he released her wrists, got off of her and stood up. "It's a rescue mission."

For no good reason, she believed him, but she was still mad as hell. He might yet be a Cylon. She got to her feet and punched him in the stomach. He winced then grabbed her right arm and pulled her to him to keep from getting beaten further. He had her in a wrestler's hold, pinning her arms to her sides by clenching his around her. When she stopped struggling, he continued to hold her, which she thought was odd.

He bent his head so his mouth was just millimeters from her shoulder. Now it was an embrace, not a hold. His palpable grief made her think something horrible happened …again…while she was unconscious. She wondered if Lee, or a lot of other people, maybe the whole fleet, had been lost.

"Tell me," she said in a much more forgiving tone.

Adama pulled back from her but did not look her in the eye. "I know you have cancer," he said quietly.

That displeased her but she waited for the other shoe to drop. Were they the only people left?

"I saw the drugs in your bathroom," he continued.

"Well, you would have found out eventually. I thought you had enough to deal with right now…or are we all there is left to deal with?" She was anxious to brush the cancer issue aside and get on to the crisis. "Was there an attack? Who needs rescue?"

"The fleet is fine. This is a mission to rescue you."

"Rescue me? From the assassin?"

"There was no assassin. The assassin story was just a way to secretly get you over to my room, drug you and get you aboard. I had to get you out here to see if we can cure your cancer."

"So, I fell for the old 'someone's trying to kill you' line," she observed dryly. "You could've just asked me to come over."

"I know it seems theatric but admit it, you wouldn't have agreed to take a precious cargo ship light years away from the fleet for your sole benefit, would you?"

"Well, no…"

"_And_," he continued, "you certainly wouldn't have let me be your pilot."

"Husher, you're supposed to be running the military and I'm supposed to be taking care of 50,000 people. Who is minding the store while we're out here…what is it we're doing anyway? I don't even know where we are."

"The colonel is handling the military and I expect Billy and Lee are tending to the populace. It's only for eight days."

"Eight days of what? Where?"

"There's a remote chance that the EM field combined with the radiation around the armory could cure your cancer."

Through the window, she could see the cloud that surrounded the armory's planet. They were slowly drifting toward it. She'd wondered if the EM field and radiation had been the thing that slowed her cancer but it never occurred to her to take a ship from the fleet and return to Cylon Territory. He was right. Even if she would do something like that, she never would've chosen him as her pilot. It was too dangerous. The fleet needed him.

"The Doc estimated 8 days might cure you based on the remission you had before."

"Or…"

Adama turned toward the cockpit and adjusted some of the controls. With his back to her he admitted, "Or we could get radiation poisoning…or be killed by Cylons."

"Why in the world did you do this yourself? You're too valuable."

Without turning to face her he replied, "Because, Madam President, if you die I won't be able to command Galactica anymore. So our fates are entwined."

"Husher, I'm sure the next President would keep you as military chief."

Adama turned from the console to face her. He hoped she'd be able to read it in his face and not force him to say it aloud. "It's not that. I wouldn't be able to command because I wouldn't be able to live." No recognition shone in her eyes. She was waiting for more explanation. He turned back to the console and hung his head. After a silence he admitted, "I love you. I'd rather die than live without you."

Laura was absolutely shocked. "Love me? You don't even like me! When a man loves a woman he lets her know it. You haven't even so much as winked at me." She moved toward him to get a real explanation. His behavior didn't validate his rationale. "A man in love would have done something physical before…"

Adama could tell by her voice she had moved up behind him. He couldn't bear the idea that she thought him so cold and inept at love. His resolve not to break the rules crumbled. In one swift motion he whirled around, pulled her to him and bent her back with a kiss until she was breathless. Because he was dipping her, she had to wrap her arms around his neck and hold on. He stopped long enough for them to catch breath but kept her in the position.

"Fast learner," she murmured between heavy breaths.

That told him she'd had enough air and he kissed her again while pulling her back up to a vertical stance. She was on fire now. Her return kiss was so passionate she pushed him up against the bulkhead and held him there. Adama's arms were still wrapped around her. He moved them under her thighs and lifted her up against him. They never stopped kissing. Laura wrapped her legs around his waist. He braced her back with his arm and carried her over to the bunk.

He pulled back from the kiss to look her in the eyes. He had to make sure. Even though they were probably about to die, this was taboo. She was breathing heavily but she held his gaze. Reading his thoughts, she assured him, "I love you too, you bastard."

That was all the permission he needed. He rolled onto the bunk and pulled her with him. For a few hours, neither one of them could spare a single thought for cancer or Cylons or shortages or politics or the needs of the fleet. Each was blissfully consumed with discovering the other.

Laura awoke with her head on his chest. His arms were around her and he was gently stroking her back. "We have to get up and put the radiation suits on," he said sleepily into her hair before kissing the top of her head. Even though they just made love, Laura was surprised he was cuddling her. He'd been both tender and fierce with her but he held her now as though his life depended on protecting her and holding her near. She wondered if this lethal man had a toy bear as a child and she was a living replacement.

The President looked up at him and moved further up his chest so she could slide her hands into his hair. She'd wanted to do that many times when he leaned over her desk or was in close conversation but never dared. Now he was lying under her, hers for the taking. It seemed ridiculous. She was the happiest she could remember being while they were facing almost certain death.

"I wish we had more time," she said wistfully.

That made Adama smile. It meant he satisfied her and, more importantly, she didn't regret it. She, after all, had more to lose than he did. "Me too," he said before rising up and kissing her neck. Laura leaned her head back in pleasure. He knew he'd better stop or they would never get into those suits. Gently, he rolled them onto their sides. He kissed her as he slid out of the bunk and covered her with the blanket.

Adama pulled the case out from the back and extracted the suits. He laid them out then stepped into the ionic shower. Laura watched him from the bunk. Had she known they were going to die this soon, she would have made a pass at him the first time she wanted to, way back when he lent her that book.

He suited up while she showered. As she was dressing, a red light started blinking on the comm. panel. The commander punched in some code and a stream of data filled the screen.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Cylons. They're on the hunt in the frequency spectrum."

"We're not emitting, are we?"

"No. They can't find us without a visual since the engines are off too."

"Of course, that means no one from the fleet can find us either," she acknowledged.

"Now you're not so happy to be out here alone with me, are you?" he teased.

"It would be OK if we didn't have to wear these suits," she retorted mischievously to take something away from the doom.

"Are you _sure_ you were a schoolteacher?" he replied.

They followed the plan and were making an ascent on the eighth day. Laura didn't feel any different except for having more energy. She attributed that to the sparks between her and Husher. Being this close to each other for so long, alone but unable to touch, built a powder keg of sexual tension.

Coming out of the cloud was the most dangerous part of their trip. If the Cylons were waiting for them, they probably wouldn't be able to make the jump to hyperspace before being blown away.

Klaxons went on as they approached the edge. A solitary scout ship was trolling the perimeter. Adama put all power to the drive, disregarding the fireball he would ignite by starting the jump so close to the cloud.

The Cylon scout identified the ship and armed her weapons. Interference from the cloud kept her from getting a good lock on them. Her first shot missed but now they were over the horizon, out of the cloud. As she fired, the commander and the President jumped. Their ship was hit just before it disappeared.

Galactica's watch officer sat up in his chair. "Colonel! Commander Adama's ship is on the scope!"

The colonel bolted over to the comm. officer and pushed her out to the way. He opened the channel himself. "Commander Adama, you alive?"

"Roger, XO. We've been hit though. I'm going to need a tow to get in."

"We'll send one out now, Sir." He nodded to the mission manager who was already sending orders to activate an alert crew. "Sir…one or two to come aboard?" The colonel knew the odds of both of them surviving out there alone were miniscule. Either the Cylons would've gotten them or they would've killed each other.

"Two to come aboard," Adama replied triumphantly as he glanced over his shoulder. He expected to see her smiling back but instead he caught a glimpse of her coming out of the shower and picking up her borrowed uniform. As she zipped up she noticed him watching her. When she caught his eye he turned back to the console and pushed some buttons that didn't need to be pushed. Then he got up and said, "My turn." He picked up his uniform and headed for the shower.

"How long 'til they get us, Husher?" she called to him.

"It'll take them about 20 minutes to get out here and 40 to tug us back in," he replied from the other side of the shower door.

She was quiet for a minute then called out, "You know we talked about everything while we were out there except what you and I would do if we made it back."

Adama didn't say anything. He knew where she was heading. They had to go back to a platonic work relationship.

When he didn't respond, she inched toward the unpleasantness. "I think we have to-"

"I know," he cut her off. He didn't want to hear it. It was bad enough that they had to live it.

He finished his shower in silence but when he opened the door he saw she'd stripped her uniform back off and was sitting on the bunk with her back against the wall, wrapped in a blanket.

"But I have about an hour until I have to resume my Presidency," she invited.

Every fiber of his being told him he shouldn't make love to her again. It would only make it hurt more later when he couldn't. He didn't heed a single fiber. When she opened the blanket for him he got on the bunk, pulled her on to his lap and acted on all of thoughts he'd had for the last seven days.

They got back into their uniforms just in time to smooth the bedhead out of their hair before the doors opened onto the bay of waiting fleet members.

Reporters shouted out questions to them but Adama ignored them as he searched the crowd for the doctor. He spotted him and said to the press for his benefit, "We'll schedule a press conference to answer you're questions as soon as the doctor has released us from our post-deployment physical."

The doctor rushed to his sick bay to get ready for the tests. Once Laura and Husher arrived, it took about 45 minutes to check everything. Commander Adama couldn't stand the waiting. When the doctor returned, he looked dumbfounded.

"I don't believe it! The tumors are 1/8th their original size. I can operate now and remove them. It's incredible."

Laura was so relieved she wanted to cry but she held herself in check. "Thank you, Doctor," she exclaimed as she hugged him.

"You should really hug him, Madam President," the doctor said as he nodded toward the commander. "It was his idea. I thought it was crazy."

The President turned to look at Commander Adama but she did not move to hug him. "Thank you, Commander. I owe you my life," she said. She hoped he could see the love in her eyes since she couldn't express it openly.

His eyes were moist and he couldn't manage any words. He nodded his head. Finally he managed, "I'll be sure to bring that up the next time I'm losing a battle in a staff meeting."


	6. UndoneChap6

Over the next few weeks, the doctor successfully removed her tumors and she recovered without any setbacks. Adama saw her every day while she was recuperating. At first he read to her from his library. When she was strong enough, they discussed business as well. Sometimes they even gossiped about the crew and her staff but they never talked about them or what they'd done.

After a couple of weeks, she was back to her routine on _Colonial One_. She'd been so pleased with the end of the cancer she hadn't worried too much about the radiation poisoning. The doctor said he hadn't detected anything but would have to keep checking every month for a year to make sure nothing developed.

It was difficult for them to keep their feelings from showing during the day but they managed, using work as both a shield against emotion and a reason to share company. Every once in a while, she would stare at him while he was reading a document at a staff meeting and someone else was prattling on about his or her case.

Naughty flashbacks distracted her until he would look up and catch her gazing at him. He knew what she was thinking and unwittingly put his fingers to his lips as he locked eyes with her. Usually, it went unnoticed by the boors in attendance. The bored, however, frequently picked up on the surge of electricity in the air. On the other hand, not a soul picked up on the younger Adama looking with equal longing at the President.

Nights were harder. Her cancer was cured. She was immensely popular. Nothing was standing in the way of her running for and probably winning another term. At night, however, just before she'd drift off to sleep, she'd often question whether the presidency was worth not having him in her bed every night. Desire and duty warred within her. Duty usually won the day but desire ruled the night.

Need tortured Adama as well. He'd hoped time would decrease the ache but it actually got worse. Visions of Laura filled both his waking and sleeping dreams. Eventually, he found even her most innocent movements sexy. Her voice enticed him enough that he would make excuses to call her just to hear it. Over the weeks, he got to calling her later and later in the day, until he got in the practice of calling her just before bed. It was masochistic, but it gave him sweet dreams.

One morning after her staff meeting she was arguing with Adama over the number of civilians who would augment Galactica's crew when she became nauseous and had to run to her bathroom. Alarmed, the commander insisted she come with him to the doctor immediately. They both knew it could be radiation poisoning finally showing up. His natural reaction was to take it on now. Her natural reaction was to avoid any more bad medical news at any cost.

She was obstinate, so he had to play his trump card. "I didn't risk my life so you could throw yours away," he admonished.

She looked him in the eyes and succumbed to his concern. Obviously, he was her hero, but on a level only they understood, she was also his. She couldn't just think of herself anymore. They needed each other and the remains of the colony need them both.

After an agonizing hour, the doctor appeared with a chart in his hand. He looked at the commander standing by the President's bedside where she was sitting up. It confounded him that out here in the middle of nowhere these two who loved each other so deeply would keep up the charade that there was nothing between them. Military bearing wasn't his long suit. He cleared his throat. "The good news is you don't have radiation poisoning."

They sighed and Adama closed his eyes in a prayer of thanks.

"The better news is you're pregnant."

Stunned silence blanketed the room. They looked at each other, but neither of them could speak. This was not part of their previously perfect plan.

The doctor reached out his hand to shake Adama's. "Congratulations, Commander. She's a girl. Now you'll have a couple of goddesses to add to your pantheon," he joked as he looked at Laura who was still trying to come to grips with the news.

Adama dropped his hand. "Don't believe the tabloids."

"I don't," replied the doctor. "But I do believe in DNA," he retorted as he tapped his chart.

Laura reached out and grabbed Husher's wrist to silence him. This was bizarre to her and she couldn't deal with the charade right now. "Doctor, is she healthy?"

Adama thought of the radiation and cringed at the idea that the baby wouldn't survive.

"She's perfectly fine and so are you. I expect you to give birth in about 29 weeks," he said, smiling at her.

"Thank you, Doctor. Could you leave us for a few minutes?"

"Of course, Madam President. Take all the time you need," he said as he took his leave.

Despite her outward composure, Adama saw how lost she was when he looked in her eyes. She tried to get pregnant for years with no success. After that failure, she never expected to have a baby, especially not now.

He took her in his arms and waited for her to say something.

"I didn't think," she whispered in his ear, "we were going to survive. I didn't even think about birth control. I'd been off it for so long…"

"I didn't think about it either," he said as he stroked her hair. "All I thought about was how much I wanted you."

When she moved her head far enough back to look him in the eyes he saw tear tracks on her cheeks.

"Well, I suppose it's not the end of the world," she offered, fortified by his touch and the love that shone in his eyes.

"No, that was months ago," he noted, to lighten her mood. She smiled forlornly at him.

After doing the math in her head, she brightened a little. "Maybe this will work out. My term is up in three months. I just won't run again. I'll slip out of the limelight into mommyhood and no one will care who the father is or what happened when we were gone."

"When do you want to get married," he asked.

"Are you asking me to marry you…here?" she asked incredulous and somewhat perturbed he would ask her to marry him in sick bay and just because she was pregnant.

"No. I'm telling you we're getting married. You owe me your life. I'm calling in the marker. The day is up to you."

"What if I don't want to marry you, you militaristic ogre?"

"Tough. Don't forget, I've stolen you before and I _will _do it again if I have to."

She rolled her eyes and he caught her off guard when he rushed her with an ardent kiss. She tried to push him away at first then gave in to the sensation and kissed him back. He was so good at kissing and she'd wanted him so badly for so long, she knew she'd never be able to put up much resistance. Months of pent up desire welled to the surface.

"Alright, I'll marry you," she said when she came up for air. "But not because I like you. Only because you're good in bed…and because I'm having your baby…and because I love you so much," she told him in between kisses. He drew her off the bed into an embrace that left her feet about a foot off the floor as he crushed her to him. Then he thought of the baby and gently set her down on her feet.

En route to his quarters, she dismissed Lee and Billy who'd faithfully waited outside of sickbay for their ill leader. "I'm fine, really. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health," said the President truthfully. "It could have been something I ate or, maybe Commander Adama made me nauseous," she joked in a double entendre to which he just grunted a little.

"Sorry, Madam President," he said, perpetuating the ruse, "but you'll have to put up with me a little longer. We have to make that decision before tomorrow."

She eyed him and was only able to keep a straight face with considerable difficulty. "Yes, we should make it tonight."

Adama had to fake a cough so he wouldn't laugh. He always found it amazing when this woman who embodied professionalism would show him her equally impressive sexual confidence. "I'll escort the President back to Colonial One so you two don't have to wait for us to wrap things up. It might take hours before we're finished."

A couple of butterflies came to life in Laura's stomach.

Lee found himself irrationally jealous of his father for having the President alone in his room, but obediently took his leave and made his way to his quarters. Billy was happier about being let off the hook. He made use of the time by going to someone else's quarters.

The commander stood to one side in the doorway to let the President enter. She turned toward him as he closed the door behind him. Absence definitely makes the libido grow stronger. They embraced and kissed with the urgency of teenagers. He thrust his hands into her hair while she pulled his earlobe between her teeth. She dragged her lips down his neck to the opening of his collar. Husher walked her backward while undoing the hook and eye closures of her suit jacket. She was undressing him as well and they were halfway nude by the time they reached the bed.

"You're not going to drug me again, are you?" she purred into his ear. "Because, I'm carrying your daughter, you know," she chided, proud of herself.

Adama didn't laugh. He sat on the bed and looked up at her as she stood in front of him. It made her a bit uncomfortable in her state of undress. She wondered if she'd crossed the line. Maybe he didn't really want a baby. Had she ruined the mood…and everything else?

Her misgivings melted when he reached around her backside and pulled her to him so that he could kiss her stomach. Laura sighed and ran her fingers through the hair on top of his head. He slid his cheek against her belly where he kissed her and whispered, "I love you more than life itself."

That broke her will to be nonchalant. She tilted his head back and kissed him with wild abandon while straddling him and pushing him down on the bed. She dominated him the first time. For their second round, he took control but it was almost as if he was worshipping her as much as making love to her. His tenderness with her forever dispelled any ideas she used to have about ice in his veins. She thought of him now as a frozen fire.

After a few hours, they were exhausted but he had to take her back to her ship for appearances. They agreed not to have any more trysts until after she left office. Both of them knew it would be easier said than done but neither of them wanted to blow it when they were so close to pulling the whole thing off.


	7. UndoneChap7

Thankfully, over the next few weeks, the President's morning sickness subsided. Unfortunately, it was replaced with an ever increasing need to sleep. She asked Billy to block two one-hour sessions into her daily schedule for uninterrupted time. Laura used the time to take naps but kept that detail from Billy.

Lee was dismayed more than anyone when she announced she wouldn't run for another term for "personal reasons". He was worried that the "clean bill of health" was a smokescreen and the cancer had advanced. He got Billy to put him on her schedule for a half hour to discuss military issues. Lee started the meeting by reviewing the status of forces for her. He wrapped it up in ten minutes so he could broach the subject he really wanted to talk about.

"Madam President, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Lee. Thank you for asking. I'm just a little tired these days."

"Ma'am, I want you to know how much I appreciate your bringing me into your confidence about the cancer. I hope…"

Laura realized then that she should have told Lee sooner that she was free of cancer now. He earned her trust by keeping her secrets well. His earnest loyalty meant he cared more about her health than the average staff member.

"Sit down, Lee," she interrupted as she motioned to the chair facing her desk. He obeyed and mentally prepared himself to hear the worst. "Your father didn't take me away to deal with an assassin away from the fleet. He took me to the armory to cure my cancer."

Lee wasn't following her. Everyone lauded his father for being such a hero. He'd protected the President and kept the fleet out of harm's way at the same time. How the Hell would going to the armory cure her cancer?

"So he knew about your cancer too?"

"Well, he saw the drugs in my bathroom and took it upon himself to do something about it." She decided to leave the abduction part out.

Lee furrowed his brow. "So, how did going to the armory cure your cancer?" he asked, incredulous.

"The combination of thermal and electric radiation. Apparently the theory is right. It shrank the tumors until they were small enough for the doctor to operate. I'm clean."

Lee stood up and exclaimed, "Ma'am that's wonderful!" He was beaming at her and she couldn't help smiling back. She was touched by how concerned he must have been to be so ecstatic now that she was OK.

She got up from her desk to walk him to the door. When she came around to his side he unexpectedly glommed onto her in a crushing bear hug. She laughed and patted his back in an attempt to get him to release her. That only made him hold her tighter and kiss her cheek.

Laura began to feel uncomfortable from the physical closeness to this boy and couldn't understand why he cared so much about her. She was a good role model but…

Then he started to stroke her back and she recognized this move from the way his father cuddled her after they made love. It signaled the deep Adama need to protect the women they cherished. This boy must have thought of her as a surrogate mother since his own was killed, she concluded.

"I'm OK," she reiterated gently, attempting to extract herself from his embrace.

He released her and straightened up, realizing he'd broken protocol. "Why won't you run, then? Madam President there is no one better for…"

She raised a hand to silence him. "I'm not running, Lee. That's final," she said as she walked him toward the door.

Lee let it drop for now because he was so happy about her cancer being cured. He would have to talk to his father about it. "Yes, Madam President." He smiled at her as he left and she felt buoyed by his staunch loyalty.

The fleet was abuzz with talk of the election. Seven people originally ran but after two weeks, it dwindled to four. A businessman, a judge, a businesswoman and a policeman were vying for the job. There was a relative lack of mudslinging since there were no historical files to dig through. In addition, this would truly be an act of service since there were no benefits associated with the job anymore.

Despite her distaste for politics, Laura Roslin was torn about leaving office. She hadn't wanted the job but felt she was doing a fairly good job and making somewhat of a difference for the best interest of the fleet. Still, she would be relieved to fall back into obscurity and spend her time raising her daughter and keeping private counsel with Husher. Eventually, she supposed, she would become a sort of den mother to the military members since she would be the top officer's wife. Best of all, she'd be able to sleep more, which was all she seemed to have on her mind lately, thanks to her daughter growing inside her.

Ever since the President called both of the Adama men on the carpet for risking everything to rescue Starbuck because they couldn't deal with Zak's death, the two men were a bit closer. Occasionally, Lee would stop by his father's quarters to get some advice or they would have dinner together. Lee made it a point to ask his father if they could have dinner alone tonight because he wanted to talk. The elder Adama agreed, happy to do his fatherly duty by rendering sage advice to his son.

As soon as they sat down, Lee launched his agenda. "Dad, why won't the President run?"

Husher stopped pouring the water and eyed his son. He couldn't tell him the truth without talking it over with Laura first. "Personal reasons," was all he said as he put the carafe down.

"That's what the papers say, but what personal reasons? Didn't she tell you anything when you were out there for eight days alone?"

"She told me lots of things…in confidence," he said with a finality that left no room for further questioning. Honor was one thing neither of these men would ever consider compromising.

"So, you're really convinced she can't be talked into running?"

"I'm absolutely positive," the commander answered truthfully.

Shut off from his argument, Lee decided to bring up his second, touchier subject. "If she doesn't run, I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Adama almost choked on his food. He swallowed hard. "What! You love her?"

"Yes." Lee expected this. His father was so all business that any ideas about love were foreign and surprising to him. Not to mention, his father didn't like the President.

"Does she know that?" his father asked in a disbelieving tone.

"Well, I haven't told her yet. She's still the President."

"Have you even so much as kissed her?" Husher was praying the answer to this was no. Visions of Oedipus came to him.

"Yes…only on the cheek but that's not important. I know you have a lot of philosophical differences with her, Dad, but you have to admit, she's a pretty incredible woman."

Husher had closed his eyes in relief. Laura, he gathered, was totally unaware of his son's crush on her. He opened them and looked his son in the eye. "I will talk to the President tomorrow to see if she will tell you why she won't run again. I suggest you stop making plans until you know."

Lee was vexed. What were these mysterious personal reasons if it wasn't cancer? She had no personal life. Her calendar was full of meetings and ceremonies and tours and paperwork dawn to dusk. Lee nodded his consent, thankful for his father's help if not his support. Lee didn't care if he didn't like her. He would marry her anyway.

Lee found it very amusing that all of the papers tried to create a romance between his father and the President. If they only knew how much they argued during staff meetings. She always took the humanitarian side and he always fought for the best military strategy. In the end, that arrangement actually served the fleet best, as the better argument would win but all sides were considered. Compromises were frequently the result of such charged debate.

The next day, the President and the commander were having their customary office call which was now nestled between the staff meeting and her nap. He was on her couch and she was in the chair next to it. They were discussing the timing of breaking the news to the public that they would be married. The election was in four weeks. They agreed on telling the press in three weeks since Laura wanted to have the ceremony a week after the elections, after the new President would be sworn in. She also didn't want to be showing during the ceremony.

Having made the decision, Laura felt a bit giddy. She was "short". The end of long days of interminable meetings was in sight. The thought of being married never excited her so she found this rush a little out of character for herself. A mischievous thought came to her and her exhaustion and giddiness squelched her inhibition.

She got up from her chair and crossed to stand in front of Adama where he sat on the couch. Laura put a hand on his shoulder to keep him from standing up as a matter of protocol. His knees were slightly parted and she nudged them apart with her right knee. She leaned forward, turned sideways and lowered herself into his lap, much to his surprise. She curled up against him and nuzzled her face into his neck.

Though he found this dangerously seductive, he wrapped his arms around her. Once he recovered from the surprise, he kept his promise to his son. "You know, there's someone we have to tell before we tell the press," he ventured in an intimate tone.

"Mmmhmm," was all she could manage. She was overwhelmingly sleepy and felt so relaxed in his arms.

"We need to tell Lee. I don't know if you noticed but he's exceptionally fond of you."

When she didn't say anything he continued. "Laura, he has a crush on you. He thinks he's in love with you." Adama expected at least mild shock at this revelation but she said nothing. Then he heard her rhythmic, shallow breaths. "Madam President?" he whispered, feeling a little ridiculous saying that with her on his lap. She was fast asleep.

Adama slowly withdrew his right arm from her waist and slid it under her knees so he could carry her to her bed. Billy came through the curtains with an "urgent" message from one of the candidates. He stopped in his tracks when he saw the President curled up on Commander Adama's lap. Lee was following him and almost bowled Billy over when he took in the same sight.

As embarrassing as this was, Commander Adama put that aside and willed the pair to be quiet with a menacing glare. He fell into his reflex mode and started giving orders.

"Billy, take off her shoes," he whispered. "Lee, turn her covers down." Both obeyed in dumbfounded silence. Adama carried her over to the bed and gently laid her down. He unfastened her jacket at the waist and pulled the covers Lee had pulled down back up to her shoulders. Now that the jig was up, he indulged in a kiss to her forehead before he silently herded the others out to the antechamber.

"Sir, I have this urgent message from one of the candidates," Billy said. He was mildly amused by what he'd just seen but was more concerned with not getting in trouble for disregarding an urgent message. He'd suspected the President and the commander were together for weeks.

Lee was visibly shaken but didn't want to bring up how he'd been betrayed in front of Billy.

Adama took the message from Billy. It read that the businessman was dropping out of the race because he had an idea for a new enterprise in the fleet. "It can wait until she wakes up," he instructed as he handed it back to Billy.

He managed to glance at Lee, saw that he was enraged and hurt and said, "Captain, lets go to my office," as he strode toward the airlock.


	8. UndoneChap8

Lee stalked into his father's quarters, slamming the door behind him. The elder Adama turned just in time to catch a powerful right cross from his son. The commander turned the other cheek but grabbed Lee's wrist mid-left hook.

"I'll give you one for frustration," Husher growled, "but then I'll take you down just like any other captain. It'll hurt…a lot"

Lee bowed his head in shame and twisted his arm out of his father's grasp. Defeated, he slumped onto the couch. "I can't believe the damn stories in the papers were true!" Lee moaned as he held his head in his hands.

"They weren't true…at least not when they wrote them," the commander reflected as he sat down in his armchair.

Lee eyed him suspiciously. "How long then?"

"Well, for me, ever since I realized she was right about protecting what was left of humanity instead of going down in a blaze of hopeless glory," he admitted as he sat down in an armchair. "For her, I suppose it was when I kidnapped her."

"Kidnapped! You kidnapped the President?" Lee's sliver of what he thought he knew about his father was shattering into a million irretrievable pieces. He'd heard tales of his father's prodigious romantic exploits as a young man but he thought of it as ancient history. How could his own father abduct a woman until she succumbed? So much for honor, not to mention conduct unbecoming and criminal intent.

"I had to try to save her life. I knew she wouldn't risk a ship of the line on her own behalf. It was the only way I could get her out there." Adama knew this was shocking and he gave his son a minute to put it all together.

Reluctantly, Lee finally accepted how deeply his father must love Laura Roslin. He went against his personal and military code of conduct, risked everything, including death, to save her. In comparison, Lee's love seemed more like an infatuation with potential. Lee might have done the same if he knew there was some way to cure her.

But the President gave no sign she felt anything but respect and kindness for him. After seeing how she curled up in his father's lap and clung to him, he didn't doubt her love for him.

"Are you," Lee choked a bit and had to avert his eyes to the wall, "going to marry her?"

Adama was surprised his son guessed that but was relieved he'd managed to get a grip. "Yes. In a few weeks, as soon as she turns over the office."

Hit with the evidence, Lee nodded in understanding. "That's why she refused to run for office."

Adama nodded. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, son."

"You mean before I made an ass of myself?"

"I had to make sure it was OK with her first or I would've told you yesterday. I swear."

Lee took a deep breath. "Does she know how I feel?"

"No. I was about to tell her but she fell asleep."

"So I saw," Lee said dryly.

Adama let it pass. He knew the boy was reeling. It's easy for the winner to be generous. "I won't tell her," the commander promised.

"Thank you." Lee got up, dying to be alone and beat himself up mentally for being so stupid. At the door, he turned back to his father, "Dad…if you ever hurt her, I'll kill you. I don't care what the consequences are."

That's my boy, thought Adama. "I'd give you the gun myself," he replied.

Lee stared at his father, mad at himself for admiring him even now. He left with a broken heart but a deep respect.

Two hours later, the phone rang on Adama's desk. "Adama."

"Husher," said the hypnotic voice, "did you put me to bed?"

"Yes, Madam President."

"Oh, good. I couldn't remember if..."

"But I had uninvited help."

"Uh oh. Alright. Who?"

"Lee and Billy."

She sighed deeply. "Both? Well, that must've been embarrassing. I'm sorry."

"Not at all. My prestige went up several points," he said to ease her mind.

She smiled to herself. "I guess we might as well go public now. I don't want to take away from the elections if it gets out too close to the day. How do you feel about announcing the day after tomorrow and moving the ceremony up to next week?"

They had planned on the simplest of ceremonies with just Lee and Kara and Billy in attendance so it wouldn't be hard to move.

"Fine with me." The sooner the wedding, the sooner the honeymoon, he thought. He didn't relish spilling anything about his personal life to the press but it was better for them to put their story out front so it would be correct instead of having them make erroneous accusations.

They spent the next day rearranging the ceremony with the priestess, bringing Lee and Billy in on the plan and deciding what to say to the press. Billy suggested they make the wedding a more public event to boost morale but he was vetoed. Neither the President nor the commander expected everyone to be happy about their union. In fact, they expected a significant backlash along with accusations of abuse of power and undue influence.

Far from the angry crowd the pair braced to meet, the press corps actually applauded and cheered when they were told. Several made lascivious comments under their breaths but only for the amusement of their fellow reporters.

The photographers went wild. The President and the commander acquiesced to do a few "couple" poses for them. They got one of them standing side by side with his arm around her waist. They even talked the pair into one with him behind her with his arms around her but they refused to kiss for the cameras. They laughed while they refused, though, and that made a great shot in itself because their faces were still close together from a face to face hug shot with her hand on his chest and his hand on her back.

As soon as the story and photographs hit the wire, the President's office was flooded with congratulatory letters and calls. A mountain of requests to attend the wedding fully occupied Billy's time.

Sexy news travels faster than light speed. As soon as Adama returned to Galactica, he was greeted with shouts and applause. He was embarrassed but relieved. His crew could have resented several aspects of his relationship with Laura Roslin. They might have thought he was selling out and wouldn't stand up for the best interests of Galactica anymore if they clashed with his lover's interests. Some might have thought he used his position to get to her, squandering resources and time. Others might have just been jealous.

Even Lee, who had the most cause for jealousy, seemed caught up in the joy that was spilling over the deck. He put his hand out to shake his father's and Commander Adama shook it hard then hugged his son. "At least she'll be with an Adama," Lee whispered to his father, "even if she is settling for second best," he jibed. Husher slapped him on the back.

"Don't worry, son. I have it on good authority that some of the best women in the fleet are desperate enough to think you're a good catch," he shot back. It was good to have his son's support.

It turned out Billy was good at his job. He was right. People were more than excited about the wedding. They were ecstatic, enthralled and enchanted. In the face of the overwhelming number of letters, news stories and phone calls, the President and the commander gave in. They moved it to the hanger deck and invited the max capacity of 6,000 people.

Billy had plenty of volunteer help to make the preparations. Adama was hands-off. He just wanted to marry her, he didn't care how.

Laura felt much the same way but she was surprised and touched by the affection from the public.

The day came quickly. Adama was glad that everyone had to stand since there was no way to get 6,000 chairs. It was a good excuse to keep the ceremony short. He didn't plan on staying long at the reception either. No matter what Billy desired, the commander had desires of his own.

Commander Adama looked fairly dashing in his mess dress. He was at the head of the formation, at attention, waiting for his bride. Ooohs, aahs and excited whispers spread through the crowd. The priestess smiled broadly at someone behind him. Adama wanted to turn to watch her approach but he maintained his military bearing and stayed at attention.

Among the invitees was one man who had been traveling to Caprica to his own wedding when they were attacked. His fiancé was one of the billions killed. Until the President's announcement, he hadn't known what to do with the dress he was bringing back from his wife's family on her home world.

He sent the dress and a heart-wrenching letter to the President explaining the situation. He entreated her to honor his lost love by using the dress for her wedding, which he termed, "the act of hope and love keeping this lifeboat afloat". Laura was relieved the style of the dress suited her and only required some minor taking in around the waist to fit. It was a sleek, cream satin off-the-shoulder dress with a five foot train. The gauzy veil was fixed to a pearl tiara.

As the bride made her way up to the bridegroom, he wondered if she'd worn her hair up for the occasion. He wondered which of her suits she chose to wear. She made it to his side and the priestess began reciting the opening words of the rite of marriage. As she gave their names they turned toward each other as per the rite.

Adama was dumbstruck. Laura was a vision of grace and beauty. He thought she looked like an angel. Where in the universe did she get a wedding gown? The priestess had to whisper to him to lift her veil because he was so dazzled he missed his queue. He closed the small distance between them as the priestess continued with the words of the ceremony. With slow reverence, Adama lifted Laura's veil and turned it back over her hair.

Laura smiled as she realized from the awestruck expression on his face, her efforts to keep the dress a secret weren't in vain. Adama drank in her radiance for few seconds then couldn't restrain himself any longer. He pulled her to him and kissed her passionately.

The deck exploded in thunderous applause, whistles, shouts, cheers and stomping approval. Cameras were clicking away and some of the guests decided to follow their leaders in celebratory necking.

Caught off guard, the priestess stopped her recital. What was he doing? They weren't supposed to kiss yet; and they weren't ever supposed to kiss like _that_ in public. She cleared her throat to no avail. She tried to be cross but could not help but adore these two and their infectious love.

After a few minutes, their lips separated but their bodies did not. He continued to hold her and they looked deeply into each others eyes before acknowledging the crowd and the near kissing riot they incited. They laughed a bit until the priestess ran out of patience.

"Shall we continue?" she asked in as disapproving a voice as she could muster. The rest of the ceremony went as planned.

Laura wasn't any more interested in staying at the reception than her husband was. After a few dances, they retreated toward the door. Adama turned to the security guard posted there and ordered, "No one leaves this room after us for twenty minutes. If someone tries, take them down," he joked.

The guard understood his commander's desire not to be followed to his honeymoon suite. "Yes, Sir! And may I say congratulations to the ravishing Mrs. Adama?"

"No. No straight men are allowed to talk to her ever again," he said as opened the door.

Laura rolled her eyes. "Thank you," she said as she rewarded him with a peck on the cheek.

The newlyweds strolled hand in hand to his quarters unbothered by anyone except the occasional security guard at a post who was pleased to see the happy couple and wished them well. At the door he picked her up and carried her in to their bed. There were some benefits to being on the run in space. Instead of going on a trip for their honeymoon, they were able to start it immediately right here.

He sat down next to her and reverently removed the tiara and veil. "I'm sorry if I ruined the ceremony but you looked so incredible…"

Laura grinned at him as she reached over to undo his uniform. "That was rather embarrassing," she chided, "but worth it," she added, encouraging him.

For three days, they never left the room. Adama had food brought in but he went out of the door to receive it so his bride wouldn't have to dress or be disturbed if she was sleeping. It was the most self-indulgent, unabashedly lustful, romantic, relaxed, sizzling, emotionally raw three days either of them had ever had.

On the third morning, Adama was setting out their breakfast in his library when he looked around at all of the great works and realized that not one of them told a more amazing story than their own. Lords, he loved her and Lords was he amazingly lucky she was cured and loved him back for reasons he could not discern.

Over their short honeymoon, Laura studied her husband. She found him much deeper and more vulnerable than she'd thought. Marriage always seemed like something to avoid, something of a trap. Now she could hardly remember the trepidation as she basked in the intimacy. She knew she'd be unraveling mysteries about him for years as she discovered parts of his psyche he'd reveal to her alone.

At the end of the three days, they were sexually sated and spoiled by being carefree. They knew they had to return to their duties but neither wanted to end the bliss and enter the tedium. Fortunately, Laura knew she only had a couple of weeks to go of official duty. Adama was only able to return to work because now he'd be coming home to her. He was glad the quarters were theirs now, not just his.

Billy saved the newspapers from the last three days for the President and had them lined up on her desk for her when she returned to her office. When she sat down and looked at them she was surprised to find that despite the elections, pictures and stories about the wedding dominated all three days of papers. On the one hand, she was pleased so few people objected to the union given the relative impropriety it represented. On the other hand, she was dismayed that the elections weren't treated more seriously.

Adama worked with a different sort of people than his wife. When he returned to duty, he spent a good deal of time dodging innuendo about how tired he must be and receiving congratulatory winks and nods from men who envied and admired him. They knew he must have some serious skills to get the President.

He also noticed with mild annoyance that some of the female crew were somewhat less efficient around him than they'd previously been. More than once he had to repeat an order or question to one of them because they were daydreaming as they stared at him with a goofy smile. Being married to the President, it seemed, made him seem like a stud to his crewmen and a Romeo to his crewwomen. Gads, he hoped everyone would get over it soon or it would take forever to get things done.

Two days later Adama took a team to inspect a commercial salvage ship on the edge of the fleet to see if it could be converted for munitions production. That was when the Cylons attacked. Two scout ships showed up on the scopes just one minute before they reached the edge of the fleet. Galactica's CAP was up but it still took them twenty seconds to change their vector and reach the Cylons.


	9. UndoneChap9

Adama was in the machine room when the salvage ship took its first hit at the same time the first warning came over the comm. system. The hit was to the bridge but it shook the whole ship. A crane arm broke loose of it's restraints on the ceiling and the hook caught Adama's left arm as he dove for the deck. Searing pain told him it was broken.

His team had some bruises and cuts from being tossed around when the ship pitched but they were still battle-ready. The XO would have to order the fleet to FTL. It was their only hope. The three fighters from the CAP knew that and hard landed in the salvage ship's bay. SOP is to get into the nearest FTL bay ASAP when evading the Cylons.

The lead pilot jumped out of his cockpit after landing and made a beeline for Adama who was being splinted by a petty officer.

"Commander, as we made our approach, the bridge told me this ship can't make the jump. The nav system is blown."

A secondary explosion rocked the ship again. Two 50 lb. drums of packing grease tumbled over their broken shelves. The pilot dodged the first one but the second clocked him in the base of the skull and he collapsed to the deck.

President Roslin sat gripping the sides of her chair in preparation for the jump to light speed to evade imminent attack from the Cylons. This, she decided, was the bad news she vaguely anticipated. Things had been too good over the last few months to continue that way. She didn't have that kind of luck. Now her husband would be dead before she even bore his daughter. She'd been told the ship was attacked and didn't have navigation so it couldn't make the jump with the rest of the fleet. Were it not for the child, she knew she would have found a way to stay behind with her husband.

"Go take care of him," Adama ordered to the petty officer as he got to his feet. He scooped up the pilot's helmet from where he dropped it and hustled over to his ship. With some difficulty he got into the cockpit and positioned his broken arm where he thought it would take the least jostling. He flipped on the radio and spoke to the other pilots and the skipper, "This is Commander Adama. I'm taking lead on the CAP. We're going to go out and dock with your towing hard points. We'll use the combined nav systems of the fighters and the FTL power of the ship to make the jump together."

"Has that ever been done before, Commander?" asked the distraught skipper.

"Would you rather wait to see if you can talk the Cylons out of annihilating us when we're left behind the fleet? Start the FTL sequence, Captain. We'll be able to give you the nav in 90 seconds."

"Aye, Sir." The skipper thought it was crazy but he dearly hoped it would work. Otherwise, they were all dead.

It did work, much to Adama's relief and surprise. When the CAP returned to Galactica, they received a hero's welcome. Not only had they staved off the initial Cylon scouts, which was their job, they managed to bring a disabled ship along on an FTL jump. Saving lives and capability was the best cause for celebration these days.

Hundreds of crew poured onto the hanger deck once the all clear was given to cheer and congratulate the CAP pilots. Shock gave way to even louder cheering when the crew saw a battered Commander Adama coming forth from the lead fighter. He had to protect his arm from the crush of crewmembers coming up to tell him how incredible the rescue was and what a great job he'd done. They were all proud to be under the command of such a stud of an old man. If they only knew how right they were.

It had been a long time since he flew a combat mission and even longer since he got such a reception. He was enjoying reliving it a bit. Then the crowd hushed and split open to one side of him. As he turned he saw the President at the end of the opening. They locked eyes. She strode forward and he handed his helmet to the crew chief standing next to him.

High heels echoing on the deck was the only sound in the recently boisterous hanger. Their eyes remained locked during her approach. It just now occurred to him that she might have thought he was dead during the previous chaos. Adama swallowed hard and did not know what to say to her, especially in public.

The President never slowed her approach and plowed right into him with a powerful kiss. Whistles, applause and cheers resounded throughout the hanger. When they finally stopped kissing, she still held him tight but didn't speak for fear she might cry in public.

"You were never this happy to see me at staff meetings," Husher whispered into her ear.

She laughed and thanked the Lords for returning him to her. These were unprecedented times and protocol would have to take a backseat to need now and then. She put her arm around his waist and walked him out to sick bay to have the doc look at his arm.

This was the last major news story before the elections. An amateur photo of the President kissing the wounded commander in front of the fighter he'd just flown became the defining war photo among the fleet. It ran in all the papers. Clippings of it along with the story of Commander Adama's heroics ended up on desks and walls everywhere. The stories capitalized on the drama, highlighting the agony the President must have felt over not ordering the fleet to remain so Galactica could try to save her husband. It would have decimated the fleet she'd sworn to protect, so she could not do it.

Stories went on to tell how Commander Adama, by doing something completely unheard of, saved the salvage ship and crew against all odds. Between the lines, people read that this hero might be able to do the same thing on a grander scale for the fleet.

For news drama, the election paled by comparison. It was a close race but it lacked the fervor of the elections held on the scale and at the level they had on Corsica. Laura had already voted and was moving the last things out of her office and over to her quarters on Galactica when the ballot count started.

It would take three days to tally the votes. Balloting was done by hand since Galactica wasn't networked electronically with the other ships. 39,678 people voted. It was a very good turn out for a population of 50,000, 8,422 of whom are children. Unbelievably, neither of the two remaining candidates won. There wasn't a tie. The winner, with 32,733 votes, was a write in candidate. Once again, Laura Adama was thrust into the Presidency without seeking office.

Billy's face was flushed and he could barely contain his effervescence as he knocked on the hatch to the Adama's quarters. The commander opened the hatch. Billy beamed at him despite his relative fear of the man. "Sir, I have the results of the election for the President."

Adama stepped aside for him to enter. It was very early in the morning so Adama was only half dressed. "Wait here, she'll be right out," he instructed as he turned toward the stateroom.

Laura had awoken to the noise and appeared in her robe at the doorway to the stateroom before he reached it. She had bed head and was yawning. Crossing over to her husband, she kissed him on the cheek and wrapped her arms around his torso. He put his good arm around her and said, "Billy has the election results for you."

Billy felt a twinge of lust for her and hoped he got it in check before it showed. "Madam President," he said with a Cheshire grin as he handed her the tally.

She retrieved her glasses from a table and read the astounding numbers. The President sat down on the couch in shock. "I don't believe it!"

Her husband sat down next to her and she handed him the piece of paper.

"You're even more popular than we thought, Ma'am," he said triumphantly.

"There's never, ever been a write-in President," she uttered in disbelief.

"There is now," Billy noted with enthusiasm. "You seem to have a penchant for setting precedents, Madame President."

She looked up at this happy young man, unable to digest the news that all of her plans were changing. If this was really happening, she would give birth while in office. "Thank you, Billy. When is the election commission set to announce the results?"

Billy couldn't figure out why she didn't seem happy about it. "3 o'clock, Ma'am."

"Right. Thank you," she said as a dismissal.

He went away puzzled but still very pleased that the woman he thought of as his President would have another term at the helm.

"Word must've gotten out about how good you are in bed," Husher joked with her after Billy was gone.

"This isn't funny, Love. I'm going to start showing any day. How do you think people are going to react to a pregnant President? Don't you think they'll feel betrayed? They can do the math too, you know."

"You're the one who looked me straight in the eye and said we better start having babies. I was just following orders," he said, unwilling to justify her fears by acknowledging them.

She glared at him for his unhelpfulness.

He changed his tack, unable to resist her silent call for help. "Look, if you bow out of this simply because you're pregnant, what kind of precedent does that set? If you don't want to be President again, that's fine, but don't let the pregnancy be the issue."

"What about being married to the Chief of the Military?" she ventured.

"Well, they know about that, so it seems not too many people have a problem with it. I guess the real question is whether you and I want to deal with it or take the easy way out."

He saw the conflict on her face and wanted to lift the burden from her. He put his hand on her belly and his arm around her shoulders as he kissed her on the cheek. "The choice is really yours, Laura. I'll support you whatever you choose," he said in a comforting rumble.

President Laura Adama decided that the difficult choice was the right one. When she told Billy to set up a short press conference for an acceptance speech, she could nearly feel him hugging her through the phone. Before the speech, she met with her cabinet to give them the news. Everyone was jubilant, including Lee Adama.

Shortly after the cabinet meeting, she went out into the antechamber to give her speech which was transmitted live throughout the fleet. She kept it short and noted the great qualities of the losing candidates and pointed to the elections as a testament to the continuation of their civilization. She paused for a moment and nodded to her husband to join her from the front row.

Commander Adama reluctantly took to his role as First Gentleman and stood beside the President as she continued.

"You have shown your faith and trust in me as a leader so I choose to trust you with some personal information now." She took a slow, calming breath. "Commander Adama and I are expecting a baby."

The fleet went wild! Spontaneous celebrations broke out on almost every ship. It was a good thing spirits were hard to come by or there would be a fleet-wide hangover for days.

In the antechamber, even the most hardened of reporters could not suppress the contagious joy. The President slipped her hand into her husband's who was not used to disclosing personal information to anyone, much less an entire fleet. He squeezed her hand and stepped closer to her as she finished. "We're sharing this with you not only because you are the people we serve, but so that you also know we both have great reason to fight not only for our survival, but also for an even better civilization than the one we used to have."

On Galactica, someone slapped Lee on the back, who'd been told by the couple just prior to this meeting. He was still shocked but suddenly found the idea of his father, the commander, having to change diapers pretty amusing. He turned to see it was Starbuck who hit him.

"You Adama men may be hard to live with but you certainly are pistols!" she joked.

The stars surrounding the fleet of Colonial ships seemed a bit brighter now, as did the future. Their leaders had given them hope on all fronts, politically, militarily and personally. The birth rate over the next year skyrocketed. Little Mary Adama, born two days early, was a spitfire, but a healthy one.

End Notes:

Big Mahalo Nui Loa (thanks very much) to Innogen, LilStrawbaby, Mondavis, Sinj and MK for keeping me charged to write.

On the use of Ma'am instead of Sir – Since ma'am is the contraction for madam, I couldn't make the leap that they would call her Madam President but use sir instead of ma'am for the short form.


End file.
